Sheetal Kapila

Mr Kapila was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 1978 and is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya, a Sloan Fellow of the London Business School, and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Mr Kapila specialises in civil litigation, and has acted in many personal injury and negligence cases. He is experienced in commercial arbitrations, and is one of the few Kenyan specialists in matters concerning the law of defamation.

• He was part of the team representing Nicholas Biwott at the Commission of Inquiry investigating the murder of Foreign Minister Robert Ouko, and assisted the Commission investigating Charles Njonjo.
• He has advised Ugandan Asian claimants seeking to recover assets expropriated by Idi Amin, and appeared before Ugandan tribunals for that purpose.
• He has appeared in several election petitions.
• He defended the English author and journalist Michela Wrong in an action for libel following the publication of her book on Kenya, “It’s Our Turn to Eat”.
• He is also acting for Mr John Githongo, who has been sued for defamation by the former Minister of Internal Security for assertions contained in Mr Githongo’s dossier on corruption within the Government of Kenya.
• He prevented, through court action, the loss of substantial funds belonging to the Ministry of Lands in a fraud instigated by officials closely linked to the Commissioner of Lands and the Attorney General.
• He acts on general retainer for the Swiss and Belgian Embassies and is the honorary advisor to the South Coast Residents’ Association.
• He has represented, amongst other corporate clients, Swissair, Swissport, Glaxo Smithkline, Westmont Power, Barclays Bank, Citibank, Glencore, Catholic Relief Services, Haco Industries, Madhvani Group, SafariLink, Cheli & Peacock, Sujan Luxury Hotels, Electricity Regulatory Board, Philips Medical Systems, the Uganda People’s Congress and the Seychelles People’s Party.